We have been in the midst of many transitions, notably crib to bed, more storage for clothes etc., so we had to make some adjustments to his room, which frankly speaking was just an excuse for me to redo the entire space.

The starting point for the re-do was this amazing Mexican Otomi stencil by Stencil Boss. K is smitten with all sorts of animals – birds, horses and fish seem to be his favourites, all of which are captured in the stencil. There is lots of how-to-stencil advice on the internet so I will refrain from too much advice but what really helped was that these stencils were huge – over 20 inches in length and because they came in a pair, I could stencil with one while the other one dried which was a huge time saver. It also had some helpful markers to help alignment and of course, other stenciling essentials are high density foam brush and lots of patience :)

In terms of colour, I’ve seen Otomi textile in the most beautiful greens, reds and yellows but I was unsure I could commit to that vibrancy in the long term. Also the walls are currently a soft white/grey (Snowfield by CIL) which I wanted to leave untouched. So I made a sixty second decision. I opted for a colour that was one shade darker (but in the same tone) as the wall colour which lead me to Veil by CIL. That decision totally took the thinking out of selecting the perfect grey!

In the end I am super happy with the dramatic result of stenciling – it is definitely less messy than painting although it requires more patience. And uber inexpensive relative to wallpaper. I will not hesitate to stencil again – already have my eye on some options for our master bedroom.

The other new item in the space is the Pax cabinet. What can I say about that – it was a pain to install particularly the heavy Fardal doors. Also I learned it takes two people one week to assemble a Pax, particularly if those people are married to each other. Let’s say we love the end result (and have put the horrors of assembly behind us). The cupboard is very spacious, even though it is the shallower version and I think it will last K a long time! The mattress is new (also from Ikea) and is a perfect place to lounge with a book and afternoon cuddles. The pillows, rug and stool were already part of the room.

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As Apartment Therapy's Managing Editor, Carrie covers design and modern homelife with children. A lapsed librarian, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two kids and is in contention to break the record for most hours spent at the playground.